One of the ecosystem’s oldest figures, known as an Ethereum ICO whale, has recently liquidated $60 million in assets, marking a massive profit-taking event after eleven years of strategic waiting. This original investor, who participated in the initial coin offering in 2014 buying tokens for pennies, contrasts notably with the general trend of aggressive accumulation currently shown by the richest and most sophisticated addresses in the global crypto market.
According to data revealed by on-chain analytics platform Lookonchain, this participant acquired their tokens at a meager price of $0.31 per unit, investing a total of just $79,000 for 254,000 Ether. After generating a return on investment of 9,500 times the initial capital, the wallet publicly identified as 0x2Eb has drastically reduced its holdings, remaining with only $9.3 million in assets left on its current balance.
On the other hand, although users on social media expressed concern over these massive sales, intelligence analysis from Nansen suggests it is not sudden panic, but a staggered exit strategy that has been executing since September without affecting the market structure.
Is wealth distribution in Ethereum becoming dangerously centralized today?
Despite this significant individual sale by a veteran, data from the firm Glassnode reveals a very different macroeconomic reality where the top 1% of holders continue buying incessantly. The supply of Ether held by the richest addresses rose to 97.6% this Wednesday, a notable increase from the 96.1% recorded just a year ago on the network.
Likewise, this behavior clearly demonstrates that large capitals are not being intimidated by the current price drop, but rather take advantage of volatility to further consolidate their dominance over the circulating supply of the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency.
Furthermore, institutional sentiment appears to be recovering strongly following a period of consecutive net outflows in financial products listed in the United States. Spot Ether ETFs recorded positive flows worth 60 million dollars, marking their fourth consecutive day in the green according to data provided by Farside Investors this week.
Iliya Kalchev, an analyst at Nexo, notes that while the market reaction remains measured ahead of the upgrade, investors are rebuilding their exposure selectively rather than aggressively rotating capital, suggesting growing maturity in blockchain technology.
Ultimately, while original investors realize historic life-changing gains, Ethereum’s ownership structure is concentrating into stronger hands and long-term institutional vehicles. It remains to be seen if this accumulation trend by modern whales and ETFs manages to counteract the selling pressure from ancient participants in the coming critical weeks. Thus, the market could be silently preparing for a new price cycle fundamentally driven by the scarcity of liquid supply available on exchanges.
